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The honors and awards continue to rain in for Nik Bonitto. While he has already declared his Oklahoma career is over and he plans to skip the bowl game and instead prepare for the NFL draft, Bonitto is still being praised for his final season as a Sooner.
Bonitto was named a 2nd team All-American by USA TODAY Sports. Joining Bonitto on this team are national names like Notre Dame safety Kyle Hamilton, Bedlam opponent Malcom Rodriguez, and likely first-round picks George Karlaftis of Purdue and defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux from Oregon.
Bonitto collected 39 total tackles, 15 tackles for loss, seven sacks, nine quarterback hurries, a forced fumble, and three fumble recoveries. If there is one player on the Sooners defense for 2021 that showed up ready to play every game, it was Bonitto. He routinely graded out as one of their five best defenders after games were completed.
He terrorized opponents’ left tackles and held things down setting the edge despite that being a knock on him as he entered the 2021 season. Bonitto improved his run defense mightily and is setting himself to make a lot of money playing football on Sundays.
On top of this particular honor, Bonitto was named Pro Football Focus’ Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. Look for a few more honors to trickle in as awards season continues to ramp up before the bowl season takes off.
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